🗓️ Week 02 - Help + Data Structures, Exploring Data Frames
This week we learn how to get help when you’re stuck (reading documentation and error messages instead of guessing), then dig into R’s basic data structures and data frames.
| Date | Time | Format | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu, Oct 1 | 1:30-3:05 pm | Lecture | Help + Data Structures |
| Tue, Oct 6 | 9:50-10:55 am | DS | Practice: Help + Data Structures |
| Tue, Oct 6 | 1:30-3:05 pm | Lecture | Exploring Data Frames |
Solve the Tuesday-morning DS on your own without generative AI, print your solutions as a PDF, and bring the printout to next Thursday’s lecture. There we discuss it on paper, pencil in hand, and each DS includes a 1-point discussion check: be ready to explain any line of your solution or predict its output without running it.
🤖 AI & Learning This Week
AI status this week: No AI. This includes “Help”: use the documentation, not a chatbot.
Why: The goal is not to find the right answer fast but to build paths in your head: reading ?function, parsing an error message, guessing and testing. Those paths are what you will use to catch AI mistakes later.
This week:
- In lecture, practice a help routine: read the error, read the docs, try a minimal example, then ask a person (Ed Discussion or office hours).
- Before running any line in the DS, write down what you expect it to print. This is the seed of the discussion check.
See the AI Use Policy for the full rules.
👨🏫 Lecture Slides
- Thu, Oct 1 (Lecture): Seeking Help + Data Structures
- Tue, Oct 6 (DS): DS 2: Seeking Help + Data Structures
- Tue, Oct 6 (Lecture): Exploring Data Frames
💻 Hands-on: Intro to R
- Lesson 3: Seeking Help — learn to read R’s built-in documentation and error messages.
- Lesson 4: Data Structures — vectors, R’s basic atomic types, and what happens when you mix them.
- Lesson 5: Exploring Data Frames — data frame properties.